With a 100 days to go before the Mayoral election, Green Party candidate Jenny Jones has focused attention on the Mayor’s failure to make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
Based on previous figures, the party estimates that 1,000 cyclists will be killed or injured between now and the election.
London is the only region in the country where the total number of casualties has risen since 2008, when Boris was elected.
On average, over a 100-day period, London suffers from: 1,098 cyclist casualties; 1,477 pedestrian casualties and 330 child pedestrian casualties.
The overall number of people killed and seriously injured on London’s roads has continued to decline since Boris became mayor, but the number of cyclists who are seriously hurt is now going up again.
Jones said: "1,000 cyclists injured or even dead is completely unacceptable and if elected mayor, I will ensure that there fewer deaths and injuries on London’s roads than if Boris remains in charge.
"The current mayor has encouraged more people to cycle, but he has failed to create safer roads.
"He has more than halved the road safety budget and refused to support local people who want to make 20mph the default speed limit."
Jones pledged to:
• Scrap the Mayor’s ‘smoothing traffic’ policy, which she claims has put the lives of cyclists at risk with poorly designed roads, such as Bow Roundabout and Kings Cross.
• Instruct Transport for London to make vulnerable road users the priority when redesigning roads, so that the needs of pedestrians, people with disabilities and cyclists are put first.
Jones said: "I worked hard under the previous Mayor to help deliver major reductions in the number of people killed or seriously injured in London.
"I know what works and is successful. On my first day as Mayor I will scrap the mayor’s smoothing traffic approach, which gives priority to lorries and cars.
"I will halt the program of getting rid of pedestrian, signal crossings and reverse the cuts to the road safety budget."
